The 2026 season is the second year of the UCI’s yellow card discipline system, and it hasn’t taken long for a rider to fall foul of the rules and pick up a warning card this season.<\/p>\n
Last season, stage 6 of the Tour Down Under<\/a> saw Decathlon AG2R mechanic Luis Lamas Vazquez receive cycling’s first yellow card for leaning out of a moving vehicle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This year, it has only taken until the second day of the same race for a yellow card to be handed out, this time to another member of the same team, Decathlon CMA CGM.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n The French team celebrated victory on the second stage of the race on Wednesday as Danish sprinter Tobias Lund Andresen sped to glory<\/a> in Tanunda, taking over the race lead. However, his teammate, Norwegian rider Tord Gudmestad<\/a>, was shown a yellow card.<\/p>\n Gudmestad was the last man for Lund Andresen, successfully dropping him off to launch the final sprint, but it was what he did a few seconds later which saw him penalised. The 24-year-old raised an arm in celebration as Lund Andresen crossed the line, meaning he broke regulation 5.2<\/a> \u2013 ‘Rider decelerating during a sprint and endangering other riders (a teammate of a sprinter knowingly staying in the line of other riders, celebrating in the peloton, talking on the radio, or taking their hands off the handlebars inside the peloton)’.<\/p>\n As a result, Gudmestad was shown his first yellow card, demoted from 13th place to 134th, and he’ll also receive a small fine.<\/p>\n Gudmestad now has to avoid picking up another yellow card this week. Should he do so, he’ll be disqualified from the race and handed a seven-day suspension from racing. Three yellow cards in 30 days equal a 14-day suspension, while six in a year bring a 30-day suspension.<\/p>\n He’s the 114th rider to pick up a yellow card<\/a> since the system was introduced at the start of 2025, joining big names including Tim Merlier, Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot<\/a>, and Jonathan Milan on the list of riders to be shown a card.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, he’s the 10th rider to pick up a yellow card for breaking regulation 5.2. Laurence Pithie, Matthew Brennan, and Kaden Groves<\/a> are among the other riders to fall foul of that regulation.<\/p>\n \u26a1Perfect timing, and a perfect execution from the guys at @decathloncmacgm! A late comeback from Sam Welsford and Matty Brennan can\u2019t challenge the Dane, and Tobias Lund Andresen takes Stage 1!\ud83d\udcfa Stream the race now on 7plus: https:\/\/t.co\/k2Exq3GblT@vanguard_au |\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/kqebbCDVb5January 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n